The Hallow in the Eve
by asc12
Summary: Sarcasm, Satan and Squints emerge as the group investigates a series of murder at 1313 Hallow Tree Lane, a 124 year old mansion with more murders than anyone they've faced before - but who is behind them? (Not character specific this time.) Happy Halloween!
1. Chapter 1

The Hallow in the Eve

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><p><em>Only own 206 bones, but no Bones.<em>

_Going try a little something different here…. Hope you enjoy, just let me know…._

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><p>1.<p>

"That is completely illogical." Dr. Temperance Brennan argued as she sat in the passenger seat. "Why would a penguin be cold?"

"Because that is just how Chilly Willy is, he's always cold." Agent Seeley Booth explained for the third time.

"I just don't think that we should be confusing our daughter with these kinds of arch types at a young age. Penguins also do not wear stocking caps." Brennan continued to argue the facts.

"Yeah well I loved watching Chilly Willy as kid." Booth explained. "_I'm Chilly Willy the penguin, I'm frozen thru and thru!_" Booth began to sing the theme song as Brennan raised an eyebrow. "Oh shit!" Booth said swerving to the side to avoid a collision.

The car next to them was not nearly as lucky. The Honda Accord slammed into the rear panel of the Toyota Camry causing it to spin sideways as the Accord continued to plow into the driver's side and came to a stop. Booth pulled up behind it as Brennan raced to check on the drivers of both vehicles.

Booth understood what happened immediately when he saw the driver of the Accord was still holding the cell phone in hand with a text on the display. Booth took it from her hand and stuffed it in his pocket for evidence.

"They're okay, but they should stay put until an ambulance arrives." Brennan offered and the driver's did as instructed.

Booth walked to the shoulder of the road and called for emergency services. Brennan continued to speak with the drivers to gather more information and test their cogency. Booth hung up from the emergency responders and was heading back to the road when something caught his eye.

He stepped forward and to a heavily overgrown fence line. Woven tightly between the cast iron fence posts were thick vines that suggested no admittance even stronger than the heavy metal that the gate was made of. It was what was on the gate's heavily guarded by vined entrance that had caught Booth's attention.

"Bones?" He called who quickly came over.

"What is it Booth?" She asked nearing him.

"Bones." He said nodding.

"Yes, Booth I'm right here." She said irritated.

"No, Bones, bones." He said pointing to the two bones crossed like an x and a skull over them. "I'm not an anthologist but I've been around one long enough to know those are probably real."

Brennan stepped forward to inspect them closer while Booth stepped off to the right to investigate where the path led. He looked over his shoulder to see the police and ambulance arrive, that scene was under control while a new one seemed to be developing.

Past the vined entrance Booth could see thru the growth a path leading up to a large estate, a turn of the century Victorian made of limestone and rock. It easily held over 5000 square feet in its lush design. The center had a tower that looked down at him with two openings Booth would have sworn looked like menacing eyes. He told himself he was being silly and looked at the grounds surrounding it. The house had obviously been abandoned for some time though the grounds were littered with various construction materials as though someone had quickly left and the earth had begun to absorb it.

A "For Sale" sign had collapsed on its side and Booth tried to capture a picture of the real estate agent's name and number when a large and thick snake slithered thru the gate causing him to jump back.

"What is it Booth?" Brennan asked upon seeing him jump.

"Snake!" He said.

"Where?" Brennan asked and when Booth looked back he didn't see it.

"It was big." He said figuring some trace of it must be near.

"Sure it was." Brennan said nearing sarcasm and put gloves to inspect the bones further.

"Do you always keep plastic gloves in your pocket?" Booth asked. "I don't see a box of them at home, where do you keep this supply?"

"In the kitchen in a drawer by the keys." She answered automatically as though it were obvious.

"Oh." Booth said. _Squints_ he thought and looked back thru the gate, cautiously, and snapped a photo of the real estate sign this time. He looked over the grand and deteriorating house again until he was drawn away from Brennan.

"I would confirm these bones are human and I would date them roughly forty years old, Caucasian male." She explained.

"Only forty years old?" Booth asked.

"Are you suggesting they are older?" Brennan asked in defense of her anthropological knowledge.

"No, no Bones, it's just, nothing, I was thinking the house was old, and that they would be old."

"That does not make sense, much like your Chilled Willy friend." Brennan said going back to the bones.

"No Bones…" Booth said shaking his head at the sexual implication. "No, you know what, never mind. But maybe we should check into the whole place." Booth said pulling on the gates which were too intertwined to give way to opening.

"Well I believe we will need cause." Brennan said and looked closer to the back of the skull. "Which we have, this would definitely lead to cause of death." She said looking at the large fracture. "This would not be accidental."

"Good, we have a murder case then." Booth said. He wasn't going to explain to Brennan that he hoped it was, he desperately wanted to see inside this house, it was like it was calling to him.

Too bad Booth had no idea what a terrible idea that was…

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><p>Booth bounced down the halls with an enthusiasm he himself hadn't felt in some time. The weather was cooling off, one could just <em>smell <em>the cold in the air as it was laced with the aroma of dead leaves, pumpkins, hazelnut, cinnamons and the numbing cold the nights and early mornings brought. He felt like a kid, excited for the juvenile delight of the upcoming holiday, Halloween was only two days away. Brennan may have had little interest in the holiday but Booth and Christine decked the house with spider webs, jack o lanterns, and had two Halloween costumes, lest something dramatic happen to the first one. Brennan shrugged her shoulders at each decoration that came home but had to grin at the delight the holiday brought her husband and daughter.

So it was with little thought that Booth gave as he headed to their resident psychologists door to inform him of their latest case. What Sweets was going to profile Booth wasn't sure just yet but he felt like a kid, rounding up the other neighborhood kids to set out for some mischief. Booth bounced thru the open doors making Sweets jump which only gave Booth an unspoken chuckle and repressed the desire to shout "boo."

Dr. Lance Sweets eyed the fellow agent with disdain. "Knocking is completely optional. Thank you for finally asking." Sweets said sarcastically.

_Ah, finally the kid get it _Booth said to himself missing the sarcasm and steaming forward.

"Good, we've got a case." Booth said waiting for Sweets to follow him out like a puppy eager to play catch. Sweets remained in his seat.

"Case, come on Sweets!" Booth said again unconsciously regarding Sweets _as _a puppy _in_ conversation now.

"Booth." Sweets said sternly so that he had his attention. "I have _work_ to do. You know, patients, profiles, other agents."

Booth looked at him as though those words were foreign.

"Yes." Booth acknowledged but spoke slowly so Sweets could understand. "But **_I _**have a case."

Sweets' head cocked to one side as he was amazed at how Booth regarded himself above other agents. Of course he was, Sweets knew, both professionally in the FBI and because of their lengthy relationship of working together. Still it miffed Sweets in a way. The realization dawned on Booth finally.

"Okay, well if you're busy I understand. I thought this case might interest you." Booth said luring the psychologist in as he turned slowly to the door. Booth knew he was throwing the hook and the line.

"What kind of case?" Sweets asked and Booth smiled with his back to Sweets. _Sinker! _He said to himself as he turned around with a straight face.

"Oh I don't know if it would interest you." Booth played and Sweets rolled his eyes.

"You mean the kind of case that if I don't help with you -you will only call or barge in later while I'm with patients?" Sweets asked getting up from his desk.

"Me?" Booth asked incredulously as he slapped the young man on the shoulder as he grabbed his overcoat and they left for the elevator. "Never." Booth added sarcastically as they left.

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><p>Having photographed, documented and removed the remains they now sat on the examination table on the platform at the Jeffersonian. Booth awaited the necessary documents from Caroline Julian in order to grant them access to the house.<p>

"Anything yet?" Brennan asked upon Booth's arrival. She could sense Booth's innate desire to investigate this as much as a child wishes to ride an amusement park attraction.

"No, nothing yet." Booth said. "I brought Sweets with me!"

Brennan eyed him with a quizzical glance as though asking why he was 'rounding up the usual suspects' as he would often say. She couldn't deny that _Casablanca _was an excellent film she thought to herself as she looked at the mandible under a magnifying glass.

"Any more on John Doe?" Booth asked. Sweets began to wonder how this was an actual case if three bones was all they were going on. He was beginning to feel swindled into something.

"Not yet." She replied.

"What a poor use for human bones." Fisher lamented as he approached the growing group. "Remains used as a talisman in warning." He shook his head.

Booth and Sweets both cocked their head to the left as they looked at Fisher with one singular thought emerging - _What a weirdo._

"I do have a bit of information." Angela said joining them now. Booth & Sweets welcome the presence of Angela Montenegro and hoped Fisher had work elsewhere.

"On John Doe?" Booth asked.

"No, on 1313 Hallow Tree Lane." Angela answered.

"Hmm, I half expected you to say 666 Devil's Lane or something." Booth's tone was almost that of disappointment.

"Actually the reference of 666 has been widely misinterpreted." Fisher began reminding them all that he was still present, much to their disdain. Booth wondered if Fisher's mother didn't buy him a comb or if he just choose not to use it.

"In modern popular culture 666 has become a widely recognized symbol of anarchy or the devil." Fisher continued. "Though in the Book of Revelation it asserts that 666 to be the _number of a man_ associated with the beast."

"The devil." Booth demised. "I went to Sunday school."

"Booth?" Sweets asked, his signature expression of lacked amusement cemented on his face. "Is there a case here? You know short of three bones and an address?"

"Of course." Booth said with confidence and looked at Brennan. "Right Bones?" He asked eagerly.

"This man was murdered." Brennan confirmed.

Booth smiled to Sweets that he was right but Sweets still seemed unconvinced.

"And?" He asked.

"And I think there may be many, many more." Angela interrupted as all the eyes turned towards her.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

**Booth happens upon a turn of the century mansion with human remains fastened to the front gate. The team is rounded up to check into mystery.**

"Well I'm intrigued." Dr. Jack Hodgins said ascending the platform behind Dr. Camille Soroyan.

"Oh please you two, enough of the sexual references at work!" Cam said with the roll of her eyes.

"What?" Jack said surprised. "The mention of dead bodies has my interest."

"Oh." Cam said embarrassed.

"Perhaps we can review this in my office." Angela said. "We can _all _see on the screen better."

The group agreed and left Fisher behind as they headed to Angela's officer and her big ass screen. Once everyone was shuffled in she began.

"Okay so finding information on this house wasn't hard." Angela said. "While it's completely out of sight, out of mind with the growth around it, the details are not hard to come by."

"Why is that?" Cam asked not entirely up to speed on the fact that they even had a case so she was scrambling to catch up.

"Well the house is completely surrounded by trees and various growth, you hardly see it from the road." Angela explained bringing up a recent photo to illustrate. "Also with the house comes several acres, plus grounds to the west are developed for the highway, to the north, south and east they are protected wetlands for miles."

"The house is practically its own oasis." Hodgins observed from the aerial images Angela projected on the screen.

"Okay, so are the remains tied to the house in some way?" Sweets asked eager to either get to the point or get back to work.

"I believe they are. But before I get to 1974 I need to start back at 1890." Angela explained.

She brought up a post card image of a house, it was an artist rendering and they could see it resembled the house though the illustration was far more clean and kept.

"In 1890 Robert Wilson was having this house built for his fiancée, Genevieve White. Robert wanted to give Genevieve a sort of 'sneak peak' of the house that they hoped to move into by Christmas, so one October day he takes her there to see the progress. Being 1890 their mode of travel was horse and buggy. When they arrived Robert got out of the open carriage first and went to take Genevieve's hand to help her down. One of the workers said they saw a snake frighten the house which reared up, knocking Genevieve from the carriage, smashing her head on the ground and killing her instantly."

"Wow, harsh." Hodgins said looking at the grainy newspaper image that Angela brought to the screen.

"They were a very lovely couple." Cam observed at the young and well dressed pair who despite the rigid photos of the time appeared to be very much in love.

"You said a snake?" Booth asked recalling his own run in with the serpent.

"Yeah." Angela said hardly listening as she was busy pulling up more images. "So construction halted on the house since Robert Wilson was so distraught in losing his fiancée. He died two years later of what many called a broken heart but most likely it was tuberculosis which was running rampant in the area at that time."

"That takes the romance out of it." Hodgins observed earning an eye roll by his lovely wife.

"Anyway, after his death the house was sold to the Gideon family. They were a wealthy family who had moved to the states. The father owned a large lumber company in the area. They had the house finished and moved into it in 1904." Angela brought up a family portrait of a husband, wife and five children.

"I'm guessing this isn't going to a 'happily ever after' scenario." Booth proposed.

"Right, in 1906 the youngest boy Emery fell down the sistern on the property. Since it was fall, they didn't know how he got in since it was boarded up. It was deemed an accident. A year later the youngest daughter Avery went missing and was never found. A year after that the oldest boy Davin murdered the rest of the family in their sleep." Angela brought up images of newspaper stories of the times, Brennan noticed it was marked October 1908.

"Wow, was he unstable?" Sweets asked knowing the mental health assessments at the time were erratic at best.

"The family had no reports of violence or strange behaviors by his friends or teachers." Angela reported.

"It's very unlikely that someone would go to that extreme without provocation." Sweets said still considering the case in his mind.

Booth nodded. "See Sweets, I knew we needed you on this!"

Sweets wanted to say he could have told him that over the phone but Angela was on to the next resident. "Earl McLaughlin was 52 when he bought the house in 1922. Many people wondered why he wanted to buy the home because he was older and it was just him. But after the 8 deaths that had occurred there 32 short years, he bought the house for a song. No one had a clue to what he was up to until he died."

"And how did he take his leave?" Cam asked eager to know after seeing the stout gentleman's image on the screen.

"His head was cut off." Angela said. "No one was sure quite how since there was no blade, no window, no glass, he was found on the patio and his head a few feet away. It was then they discovered why he wanted the mansion, he as running an epic sized distillery in it. The privacy of the grounds offered him a blanket from suspicion during prohibition."

"Oh nice." Cam said. "So it wasn't the drink that killed him."

They weren't sure if Cam was trying to be funny or what as they looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"I mean did like a competitor take him out?" Cam clarified.

"Oh, no one found out, no clues, nothing." Angela said.

"Could have been a mob hit." Booth suggested.

"Well, no one ever knew." Angela said. "Now onto the next victims, because you knew there were more right?"

Angela looked to everyone who didn't seem amused and cleared her throat to continue.

"So, this time the place sat empty for a long time. No one wanted it until 1948 when a returning GI named Geoff Redland proclaimed that nothing was wrong with the house and it would be fit for a place for a family. He convinced his wife Marilyn that it was all just superstition and bad luck that had befallen the residence." Angela explained as the picture of the couple appeared with the house in the background. The 'eyes' of the tower appeared to look down at them in a menacing glare. Geoff smiled broadly while Marilyn appeared very nervous in the pose before their new home.

"And how did they die?" Hodgins asked.

"Well she didn't." Angela explained. "She was found the next day, covered in blood, shaking in a corner. Her husband was found in pieces on the saw outside"

"She murdered him?" Brennan asked.

"They suspect her. The saw took a large amount of strength to turn on and run, she was five two and 110 pounds - highly unlikely she could have done it." Angela explained from the report.

"So what did she say happened?" Booth asked.

"They were never able to talk to her about it. She went insane and went into an asylum after the incident." Angela explained.

"You said 'the next day'." Sweets observed. "Was the day before special?"

"Oh I didn't mention that?" Angela asked surprised. "Yeah you'll love this, every one of these murders happened on October 31."

The group tried not to be superstitious, no one wanted to be the first to say it so everyone kept the timing out of conversation.

"So what was the end of it then." Booth said.

"Oh no, not at all." Angela said bringing up a faded color photo. "In 1974 two college buddies came upon the house. Since no one wanted it no one practically questioned when them and several other hippies started living there. But when the cops showed up and found everyone in the house had fled sometime, they did find a pile of bones, picked clean of one of the men they suspected living there. The only one unaccounted for was Paul Kulaga."

"Were they not able to identify him?" Brennan asked questioning the police work at the time.

"Well they were missing the head and the two radius bones." Angela explained.

"The three bones we have out there." Cam said. "Dating back about 40 years."

"So we know where Paul Kulaga went." Booth said. "But not how, or why his bones were strapped to the front gates."

"After that it sat empty until 1994 when a corporation went in and bought the house deeming to renovate it for a bed and breakfast with a whole macabre feel." Angela mocked. "No one else died but the company employed four different construction companies, all of whom quit because of the different instances that occurred at the house."

Booth recalled the construction material lying around as though workers had walked off the job, it made sense now.

"That's all I've got." Angela said clicking back to the image Booth had taken of the house and the fallen real estate sign. "I talked to the real estate agent who listed it. He hated showing it but between the work that needed to be done and the creepy past, no real offers came in."

Booth turned to Sweets who raised an eyebrow. "Really? You want me to profile a house?"

"Well, what do you think?" Booth said ignoring his question.

"Creepy house, bad luck." Sweets said and turned to leave.

"I don't think you should dismiss this so quickly Dr. Sweets." Brennan warned. "We are stewards who should investigate these occurrences."

"Okay." Sweets said turning to look at her. "How?"

"Well we can't do much of anything until Caroline can get us a warrant." Angela reminded them.

"Yeah, those remains were placed there recently." Hodgins deduced. "Obviously the construction crews would have discovered them while they were working. Someone had those remains for forty years and chose to recently place them on the gate."

They all considered that fact and pondered the facts so far, it was a lot to absorb. As they did so, Booth's phone buzzed. He read the text message.

"Caroline will have the affidavit tomorrow morning, we can check out the house." Booth informed them.

"Really?" Hodgins asked, the looked at him confused so he elaborated. "Tomorrow is Halloween."


	3. Chapter 3

3.

_I may have missed the mark so soon, this one was going for humorous instead of serious…. I actually do have this one planned out in my head so stick with me here. It's got a plan and it's going to be more about the characters than just dead people..._

**The team assemble to find the grizzly past of the house on 1313 Hollow Tree Lane. They are granted access to the house the following day, Halloween.**

Six brave souls stood outside the opened gates of 1313 Hollow Tree Lane and peered inside. The sun had been out on their drive their in Booth's SUV but had managed to vanish by the time they arrived. Cam looked up into the ominous gray sky as the agents surrounding them pulled the rest of the vines away.

"What _exactly _are we going in here for?" Hodgins asked Booth for the second time this morning.

"You know, evidence and stuff." He said. "Things squinty people find."

Booth grinned at the house that smiled that evil smile at him. It was as though it were a showdown. Brennan looked at her husband who was grinning like an idiot at a house and shrugged. _Halloween does weird things to people_.

"Well let's get this done with." Angela said marching forward. "I don't want to miss taking Michael Vincent trick or treating."

"Right, because that's just what a preschooler needs, lots of sugar." Hodgins said following his wife's brisk pace.

Cam had offered several times to stay at the lab but Booth all but demanded she come along and as she followed the quartet's footsteps she wondered why she had caved. Sure she was curious, but this just didn't feel right.

Booth looked back to see their missing member looking at the house.

"Sweets?" Booth asked. "You coming?"

Sweets shook his head. "No. No I don't' think so." Sweets stood in the same spot.

Booth sighed a heavy breath and walked back. "Come on scaredy cat, let's go."

"No, it's not that." Sweets said. "Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's that. Booth, like a dozen people died in this house, are we really being responsible by taking the people we care the most about into that same place?"

Booth hadn't thought of it that way.

"Come on Sweets, you don't believe all that hullabaloo do you?" Booth asked. He actually wanted an answer because he sure as hell had no clue what was going on in that house.

"No, but there's probably a reasonable explanation." Sweets said. "Like a gas leak or some other chemical compound that got into the air and cause these people to act on very strange impulses."

"Right, so let's do them justice by finding out what that is." Booth said.

Sweets let out his own long sigh and looked at the big, tall, goofy man that was Booth and realized he couldn't deny him and followed along.

Standing at the front door the two G-men in their usual suits caught up with Brennan & Hodgins in their own suits of evidence collection and Angela & Cam who were dressed casually as usual in shell dresses. Cam did not plan on collecting human remains and did not dress the part.

Booth smiled and looked to the group. "Should we knock?" He teased. The rest rolled their eyes as Booth opened the heavy wood door that creaked as it opened.

"That's ominous." Hodgins said with a big smile at the loud and long creak.

"Hodgins!" Angela said with an eye roll. "The house hadn't been opened in years, it's only logical that it's going to creak!"

"Thank you Angela!" Brennan said happy that her friend was being reasonable for once.

"But it is awesome isn't it!" Angela squealed as she ran in with Hodgins. Brennan sighed in defeat.

"We have flashlights right?" Cam asked as she nervously wobbled in her tall stiletto designer heels. She was only along for the ride she told herself, they would only be here a few minutes, so she told herself.

"Yeah, here we go." Hodgins said beginning to break a few out. As he was taking them out of the bag they could hear a pop and a few dim lights began to spark in the house.

"What the hell was that?!" Hodgins said in a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Generator." Booth said coming up the basement steps turning off his own flashlight he had brought along they started at him as they tried to hide the fact they were catching their breaths individually. "What?! Caroline told me it was down there. The real estate agent used it to show the house, it's not a lot of light but it will help us navigate some."

"Right…." Cam said eager now more than even before to collect evidence and go. "So what's the plan, this place is huge."

"Well someone put those bones out there." Booth explained. "We need to find evidence of anyone being in here and who he or she is. Also, _anything _we can come across to help us figure out what happened to the previous people who were murdered here."

"It would be unfair to jump to the conclusion that _all _the victims were murdered." Brennan warned. "There's a chance that it could have been…"

"Yeah, we got it Bones." Booth said.

"Yes, please let's get to work." Cam said eagerly getting course for the massive stair case which ascended before a massive window. Sweets decided to follow Cam while Hodgins & Angela split between the east and west wings of the house. Brennan opted for the back of the house while Booth decided to check out the tunnel which went underground from the house to the carriage house, a tunnel put in by Earl McLaughlin when he made his moonshine in the house and ran it out to the carriage house via the tunnel into the waiting cars completely undetected.

It was a typical October day, one that started out cool but threatened to get warm. That changed when they were in the house. While old houses had a knack for capturing the cool, the dimness of the lights and the spooky nature made it seem cooler. Cam and Sweets had reached the landing of the stair case and were about to part for separate wings when Cam felt a shiver. Sweets noticed it and had to smile at the fact that Cam had completely dressed for a different occasion in her sleeveless shell dress and tall heels.

"Here." He said taking off his dress jacket to give to her.

"Oh no, I can't." Cam said rubbing her upper arms.

"Please. My mother would never forgive me if I didn't." Sweets said and waved it at her again. "Besides, I was smart enough to actually _wear _sleeves today." He kidded her.

Cam rolled her eyes and accepted the jacket. She put it on and before she could say thank you Sweets had ascended the rest of the stairs into the east wing. Cam pursed her lips thinking that sometimes she was so busy giving Sweets a hard time that she forgot how nice he was. Cam headed up the steps to her own direction for clues.

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><p>Brennan worked quickly and methodically as she searched thru the back of the house where the kitchen, pantry and servants quarters were held. Most of the rooms were vacant of much but she headed towards the servants quarters. She would consider superstitions about as helpful as the mindless psychology but she couldn't deny acting on intuition, and something told her not to continue. <em>We must solve the case <em>and so she pressed on.

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><p>Angela found the library, a large room full of books with spines in evergreen, burgundy, browns and beige, all blending together for a collection of stuffy reading she decided. The room with the tall shelves also held a piano so large she was convinced that the house had to have been built around it, and was probably the reason it remained. She couldn't resist the urge, and was lured towards it, she peeled back the top and looked at the once ivory and black keys. She tapped them, revisiting an urge to play the theme from Phantom of the Opry. The piano was very out of tune and she shut the lid.<p>

The room, like many of the rooms, contained massive fireplaces. She looked to the ornate woodwork that adorned the outside and was intrigued with the design. She took out her phone to take some photos of it and noticed she had no reception.

* * *

><p>Hodgins had found what seemed to be endless sitting rooms. One seemed to be very plain but had a funny feel to it. Having been used to growing up in mansions he wasn't uncomfortable in their large surroundings. Because of the familiarity with the large estates the size of the current room caused him to question it. He walked to a large painting on the wall, a turn of the century depiction of the city streets of Paris. He wondered how the painting had survived all the years it had been here and he tugged at it to find that the painting was adhered to the wall. <em>That's why<em> he said to himself. _But why would you attach a picture to the wall? _Hodgins asked himself. He looked to inspect the mural further when he located something very interesting.

* * *

><p>Booth found nothing of interest in the tunnels besides an army of spiders. He arrived in the carriage house and looked back to the house. He spotted Cam who waved to him from the second story window. It wasn't so much that Cam disappeared from the window that bothered Booth, it was the fact that window disappeared from the house that did.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Bones.

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><p>4.<p>

_Walking a line between "freaky" and "funny" let's see how this goes…._

**Recap 3: The team arrive at the house and begin to investigate. They separate to cover the massive house in less time and soon start to discover strange things.**

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><p>Angela looked at the fire place closely as she snapped photos of the ornate woodwork. It wasn't the type of design where roses were carved <em>into <em>the wood. Instead the design came out of the wood towards the room. The wood was a dark and rich looking rosewood with a varnish on it. Angela had first been drawn in by two things, that the ornate wood protrusions had not been broken in 124 years nor had the stain or varnish lessened any. The room had seemed untouched in several decades so she doubted that the construction crews had refinished it.

She looked at the carvings and wondered if the one was a tiger or a gargoyle with teeth jutting out at her. It seemed a strange choice for a family home and she was curious now more about the original builder of the home. She vowed to look that up when she returned to the Jeffersonian. She continued to inspect the mantle when she caught a glimpse of light shining on the ashes within. Natural curiosity led her towards the squared ashes lying in it, one was near completely intact so she very carefully removed the fragile black fragment that was as thin as tissue paper. Angela realized it must have been the last paper thrown in the fire when it was low causing it to not destruct. Angela could see writing on it but knowing it would most likely disintegrate at any moment she snapped a series of photos of it and sure it enough the document soon crumbled to dust.

"That was creepy." She said to herself out loud.

* * *

><p>As Brennan grew deeper in the small and narrow hallway that led to the rear of the house she felt the temperature drop. She felt this was due mostly to the building materials used in this section and less to do with the paranormal. She couldn't deny though that her heart rate had increased for no logical reason other than the fact she was entering an area that was not completely secure.<p>

The end of the hall led to four doors, each a bedroom for the maids or butlers who resided here. She opened the first door which would turn out to be like the rest in design - simple and plain and devoid of furniture. She imaged what the rooms once looked like for those who lived here and were paid what was far less than minimum wage for their work. Inspection of the three rooms left little to the imagination but it was in the fourth room that her heart rate increased the highest when she saw a closet door open. She came closer and looked at the panel near the handle. There was a handle on the outside but the inside lacked a knob. Next to it, deeply embedded were deep groves - desperate pleas to be let out.

* * *

><p>Booth peered at the house and as he looked again and again the windows were absent, the stone from the house having slid over them. He raced to the entrance but the door he had come in was gone as well. He turned around and the windows and doors from the carriage house disappeared as well, the lone dim bulb hanging overhead the only thing lighting the room.<p>

"What the hell?!" Booth said looking around. _How the hell is this happening? _Booth asked himself as his mind raced for an explanation and a solution.

"What's wrong?" A voice said as Brennan walked forward.

"Oh Bones!" Booth said with relief. "You're okay. I was so worried, how did you get in, is everyone okay?"

"How should I know?" She asked with a look of disgust on her face.

"Didn't you see everyone?" He asked surprised at how apathetic she was.

"They're _you're _people Booth, shouldn't _you _be taking care of them? Sweets warned you - you know that right?" Brennan said taunting him.

Booth felt a chill, it was his worst fears - he had put his people in danger, he couldn't get to them and the worst fear of all - Sweets was right.

* * *

><p>Cam was tired of this house and she wasn't even thru the whole thing yet. She opened the first bedroom she found, it appeared to be the master bedroom. She marveled at the looks of the room, very grand in style and was glad it hadn't been destroyed by the many inhabitants who had lived there over the years. In fact she was utterly surprised by the fact that the room, still furnished looked like it had a hundred years ago.<p>

She felt a cool breeze and turned quickly, knocking a stand with a small vase to the floor. She jumped when she heard it break then teetering back on her tall heels she fell on her bum.

"Oh!" She said. "Damn, that smarts." She said rubbing her tiny posterior.

As though mounting stilts she got herself off the ground and dusted off Sweets dark jacket. She didn't want to return his generous offer ripped or dirty. Once she was satisfied it was in decent shape she went to collect the broken artifact but she found it, on the stand, intact.

"What the…." Cam said picking it up and seeing it in one piece. Cam recognized it was old and priceless. She narrowed her eyes at what she was about to do. She threw it to the ground smashing it again. She turned around away from it and counted to three then looked back. It was still smashed on the ground.

"Oh shit." She said with panic rising. "I just broke a priceless artifact to prove I wasn't insane. I am going to explain this one to Caroline?"

Cam rubbed her eyes wondered what she was thinking when she looked back to the stand, and the once again in tact vase.

"Time to go." She said turning on her heels and immediately tripped. She pushed herself back on her bruised bottom and tried to figure out how she fell over. She stood up again and feeling as though her shoes were made of Jell-O she toppled forward. She looked at her shoes again, inspecting them for a nail or something that made her unsteady on her feet. The third time she attempted to walk, her foot shifted to the side and she fell from it again. Now she removed the shoes and threw them across the room and headed for the door at a quick pace. She felt cool and grabbed for her shoulders, her jacket from Sweets was gone. She feel cool and uncomfortable - mostly because when she looked down - her shoes were back on. She made a run for the door but again tripped.

_Oh God, _she said to herself _it's whatever told me would happen, my worst fear, that I would die trying to escape in my high heels._

* * *

><p>Hodgins picked at the corner of the mural. There was something dark there and with a tool removed from his evidence collecting back he picked at the dark spot enough that something finally came loose. He looked at the cockroach like an old friend had stopped by.<p>

"Hey there. I bet you might be able to tell me something." He said to the bug. "Let me just get you a little carrying case and I'll take you back to my lab."

Hodgins turned to get a plastic case from his bag and turned back to the mural, now he found a centipede.

"How, now you've got a friend." Hodgins said smiling. "Okay, well we can take you both." He said to the bugs.

"I'm a bug guy so you know, we can take lots of friends." He wondered why he was addressing the insects as though they were playmates of Michael Vincent's when a fly, a bee and a beetle showed up thru the small crack.

"And more…" Hodgins said at the strange combination of bugs.

As Hodgins said it the space began to flood with more varieties of bugs until the walls were covered with them. Hodgins lost interest in the plastic containers and decided to take a step back from the infestation that was occurring. As he turned to the door he was met with a sea of dark as the bug infestation had covered every inch of the wall space. He looked back at the mural to see the steam of bugs coming out. He was now completely surrounded by bugs…

* * *

><p>Angela left the pile of ashes alone and felt a small pain in her temple, the start of a headache. <em>That's weird <em>she thought to herself. _I don't usually get headaches, wonder what caused that?! _She looked to the shelves of books and was curious what kinds of books stocked the shelves. They looked to be very old books and she figured they must be some of the true staples of literature. She randomly selected a burgundy spine book with faded gold writing. She couldn't read the spine's faded title so she flipped it open.

"Life and Times of Lisa the Mail Clerk." Angela read out loud. Her eyebrows tilted upwards and she figured this must have been a miss in a great collection. She picked up the book beside it. "How to properly arrange your paper clips" Angela read the cover. She assumed it was a joke and flipped thru the 384 page novel to find illustrations and explanations on - arranging paper clips in the proper northern English fashion. "One last try." She pulling a book off the shelf above, "The Fascinating Life of John Doe, a three part series." Angela had no interest in any part of the series, the first, second or the third.

She spied an old phonograph and after a few turns she it sparked to life with a record already placed on the table. She pulled a long book from the shelf that she recognized as an art book. She waited for the crackle to die down and the music to begin. A single note played. Then it played again, and again and again. It never changed cadence or tune and the single noted droned on. Angela checked to see if it was stuck but it continued. She waited for the music to change while she flipped thru pages of the book titled "Great Works of Visual Art." She was intrigued until she found a series of gray blocks, followed by pictures of unicorns and rainbows.

"What the hell?" She said flipping thru more pages of mediocre art. "Okay, just stop!" She yelled at the phonograph as it droned on with the same note banging over and over. It wasn't helping her headache any. She pulled at the arm of the phonograph but she felt a slight shock. She jumped back and timidly reached for it again. Again she felt a shock. The musical note droned on banging away between her ears.

Angela turned for the door but the door was locked, she was stuck as the 'music' droned on.

* * *

><p>Sweets would have sworn that he had heard the shattering of glass but he thought it might just be his imagination. He didn't feel determined to go back, he figured it was fine. He didn't care really.<p>

He had skipped the first two doors. Maybe there had been something important inside, he wasn't sure, he just didn't care. Finally he opened the third door. _I suppose I should do SOME sort of work here._ He said going in the small room. The rooms on this wing seemed to have been for the children of the families who had lived there. Sweets looked around the empty room which had been decorated in dark blues and reds where the others he had walked by were pastels. He figured a young boy had once occupied this room.

Sweets looked out the window to the carriage house. He saw Booth inside and he could sworn he was talking to someone. Sweets felt a little worried about that since he knew they had all split up but then he figured Booth was a big guy who could take care of himself. _He doesn't need me, I'm just a pesky person nosing into everyone's business._ Sweets grumbled to himself. He looked around the empty room and into the closet. _What are we doing here anyway, this is all a waste of time! _Sweets said slamming the closet door shut. He heard something make a thud noise. He stopped in his tracks and rolled his eyes. _Great, now what!? _He said turning to open the closet door again. Laying in the opening was a book, an old book by the looks of it with no printed cover. Sweets looked above and saw a ledge above the door, the book must have been placed there years ago he figured. He took the book and went by the window to read it by the light. He sat perched against the ledge and noticed the chill. _Shouldn't have given the jacket to Cam you dummy. _He chastised to himself. _She probably didn't even appreciate it anyway._

He sat with the book in hand and flipped it open past the cover. It wasn't a published book, he soon realized it was a journal. He read the first few entries and deduced it had been written by a teenage boy. _Wow, what gave that away genius? _He poked fun at himself. _The fact that he's talking about sports and girls in the first four pages? Some profiler you are, how would they ever do without **you**? _Sweets turned the pages and read on, based on the references he figured it to be written around the turn of the century which he knew it must have belonged to Davin Gideon, the boy who had murdered his family.

Sweets turned the pages and recounted the boy's account of the events since the family moved in. The move had been difficult for Davin, Sweets was finding out and his mother encouraged him to write those entries in a journal. He was eventually adjusting well to the move when Emery fell down the well and the family was devastated. A year later when Avery went missing the family went from devastation to being edgy. The family tried to change things up and having all complained of a chill in the house, they installed a state of the art new-fangled furnace that would push air thru the entire house. It was an engineering marvel. Davin began to complain of not feeling well in those entries and in feeling sick and tired he grew angry.

His entries were filled of lines of how he felt left out and misunderstood by his family. Sweets understood the young man's plight deeper as deeper as he turned the pages till the last entry.

_They care so little of me. I see how they look at me since Avery went missing. They have the gall to think **I **did something to her. Oh they deny it! And with such acting too! But I know what they are thinking. I am an annoying burden to them. One they would be lucky to be rid of! Well they are the ones who are going to be sorry! They will never forget me now, I'll make sure of that._

Sweets looked up from the book, his kind and empathetic dark brown eyes were devoid of their usual feeling and emotions, now, for the first time, he knew what he had to do.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so this is supposed to be a sort of mixture of sarcasm (humor) and scary. And hopefully it's come across that the house is causing each of the members of the team to manifest on their greatest fears. Booth being separated from his people and unable to help them, Cam at the mercy of her shoes, Hodgins the victims of his own passion, Angela stuck in a world of mediocre art and Sweets that he has lost the ability to care about people and thinks everyone hates him.<em>

_I'll pose a question however - what do you think Brennan's greatest fear would be?_

_Any don't worry, while this one isn't going to be a usual "torture Sweets" story the next one will be. I'm trying to decide between fire and torture. Thoughts on that as well?_


	5. Chapter 5

5.

_I'm still teetering between serious moments and funny moments. I know it should probably be strictly one or the other but I enjoy both worlds…_

_**Recap of 4: The house is causing each of the members of the team to manifest on their greatest fears. Booth being separated from his people and unable to help them, Cam at the mercy of her shoes, Hodgins the victims of his own passion (bugs), Angela stuck in a world of mediocre art and Sweets that he has lost the ability to care about people and thinks everyone hates him.**_

"I am watching over them." Booth argued to Brennan. "Just as soon as I get out that door!" He shouted at the wall where the door should be.

"What is it Booth, have you failed?" Brennan asked. Booth didn't recall her ever being so callous before. She always seemed so supportive of his abilities. But then again, Booth was feeling confused about a lot of things at the moment. He rubbed his head.

"Is this like the time you let down Anderson, when you were an Army Ranger?" She asked. Booth felt pale at the memory of the solider who died when Booth failed to go back for him quick enough. A realization dawned on him.

"Wait, Bones, I never told you about Anderson." Booth said and turned around to see there was no one there in the empty carriage house. Booth turned to see the door but now it was wedged shut. Instead of going thru the tunnel he left out the other door thru the courtyard to get to the house.

* * *

><p>Brennan's gloved hand moved over the scratch marks in the door. They were low so either someone was crouched and pulling at the door or was a small child. Brennan shook her head at the possibility of either. She photographed the door and swabbed the door for any possible residue and closed it. She thought she had heard a child's cry but she figured the thought of a child being locked in a closet, someone like Christine was playing tricks on her.<p>

She stood up and looked around the room. Though she knew no rational reason why, she did not like this room. She walked down the hall of the servant's quarters and soon found a large kitchen at the first right, a path to the carriage house to the left. It made sense to her that the two directions led to the workers areas. She knew Booth was investigating the carriage house so she headed into the kitchen.

The room was large and decked out in white cabinets that were dirty with time. Dust and dirt littered the counter tops, entering thru the broken glass of the large windows that lined the walls. Brennan heard a small giggle, she thought it strange that Angela would play a trick on her so she followed it. She found no one there but a large door. She opened it to find a large room with shelves, a pantry. In the pantry was a large door, Brennan cautiously opened the door and found a dumb waiter, a mechanical box mini elevator, that moved trays up and down between the floors. Again, she thought she heard a giggle from above her in the box. She tried to move the box but it was wedged in place. She gazed upwards to see where the lift went to.

Brennan backed out of the room and followed the maid's staircase up to the next floor which was at the back of the east wing, the children's wing. Brennan followed another sound of a giggle to the first room at the end of the hall. She opened the door to a bright pink room with images of pink cherry blossom trees fading into the walls. Brennan touched them, they had been hand painted, a labor of love at one time. The giggle ensued and following the noise Brennan found the dumb waiter opening on the second story in the pink cherry blossom room. She opened the door and peered down at the lodged dumb waiter.

Bracing herself against the side Brennan pulled as hard as she could on the cable. She could hear the sound of something pressed against it cracking and giving way. Once it did the box shot upwards and Brennan fell back covering her eyes as dust filled the air. Once it settled she opened her eyes and inside the dumb waiter box saw the skeleton of a small child, clinging a deteriorating doll.

The giggle turned to a soft sob.

"Okay, what is that?!" Brennan shouted. The sobbing stopped. "This is not rational okay!? I'm obviously….something is….not right." She said looking around. _It's not rational, this isn't real….then how did you arrive right at where you needed to be? _Her subconscious asked itself. _You followed the sounds didn't you?_

"No I didn't!" Brennan shouted out loud. _Yeah you did. _She reminded herself. "Stop it!" She shouted to the empty room. She was confused, what was real and what wasn't? She couldn't tell and she didn't like it.

* * *

><p>Hodgins stood in the center of the room. <em>They're bugs, you're an entomologist, why does this bother you? Because it's like the inmates taking over the asylum you idiot! You were always afraid this would happen, your work would eat you alive!<em>

The bugs looked up at him like he were either a meal or a statue. Hodgins was afraid to move when he had identified a number of particular bugs, Dermestidae Beetles, often found in carcasses for eating the remaining flesh. It gave him an idea, if he could only move…

* * *

><p>Angela pulled on the door, she was determined it was going to open. When it didn't she kicked it, damming it's fine wooden frame. She turned her anger towards the photograph which she toppled on its side. As it crashed to the ground is spectacular bang the bottom broke off revealing a log. She picked it up and as she did, the door rocked back on its hinges and opened.<p>

* * *

><p><em>They're just shoes. <em>Cam told herself. _Shoes can't hurt you. _Came another reminder as she slowly stood up and after a step fell back down again. _Well that sure as hell hurt!_

"Be careful my dear." A voice said from behind Cam. Cam turned to see the soft outline of a woman who looked nearly like a Gibson girl touching the shatterproof vase. "Shoes can be slippery, you never know when a fall might cost you your life."

Cam's eyes widened at the pale and translucent figure. Forgetting the shoes she kicked them off and crawled quickly towards the door. She struggled to pull it open when the vase crashed against the door, inches from Cam. Cam looked back in a panic and the ghostly figure moving quickly towards her.

"Get out of my room!" She shouted and as Cam was about to scream the door flung open depositing Cam into Angela's arms.

"Whoa!" Angela said catching her.

Cam stood in the hall outside the door and looked at the broken vase on the floor but saw no one inside.

"What's going on Cam?" Angela asked as she struggled to catch her breath. Cam felt better now that Angela was there, and warm. Cam looked and she had Sweets jacket back on.

"Oh! Oh! I love you!" Cam shouted clutching her arms.

"Me or the jacket?" Angela asked confused.

"The jacket! Oh so warm!"

"Of course." Angela said sarcastically.

"I must thank Sweets for this warm and very _real _jacket!"

"Oh boy." Angela said watching her boss struggle to collect herself. "Let's us just get your shoes…" Angela said stepping towards the bedroom.

"No!" Cam shouted as she forcefully slammed the door shut. "Shoes bad! Shoes will kill you one day!"

Angela watched with her head cocked to one side as he boss ran off into the east wing.

"Oh boy." She said again.

* * *

><p>Booth was walking thru the courtyard when he was stopped quickly in his tracks by a snake, the same snake as the day before.<p>

"Oh! Ah!" Booth said in a manly type of cry out. He backed up only to see another snake.

"Ugh yuk!" Booth said. "It's okay, Indiana Jones didn't like snakes either!" He assured himself. The first snake moved from his path and to the left. The snake behind Booth approached him as though to move him forward, which it did so effectively. The two snakes seemed to work together to maneuver Booth towards an opening, the old well. Once near it the snake moved quickly and Booth tripped forward, but because of his size he straddled the well instead of falling into it. Once he stood back up the sight of the snakes were gone. He looked down into the well and a possibility occurred to him.

He heard a scream he knew and he ran towards it, his people was in trouble.

* * *

><p>Angela caught up to Cam in time to hear Brennan shouting. They ran in the direction of the scream, Cam's bear feet beating against the wood floors. In the last room at the end of the hall they found Brennan in a bright pink room. Angela screamed when she saw the small decaying skeleton toppling out of the dumb waiter.<p>

Brennan looked at Cam & Angela. "You're not real!" Brennan shouted at them. "No, none of us are. Only the sounds are real."

"Oh boy." Cam said now herself very calm and collected.

"What the hell kind of place is this?" Angela said still eyeing the corpse and the doll.

"Angela…" Cam said softly. "I think our help is needed over this way." Cam nodded to Brennan.

"I mean, if you guys _were _actually here then we could talk you know?!" Brennan was rambling as she paced the room in non-sensual patterns. "Because I really feel like we should talk about our feelings!" Brennan shouted.

"Feelings?" Cam asked confused.

"Talk?" Angela asked. "Geez where's Sweets when we finally need him? He's been waiting for years to hear this from Brennan."

A realization dawned on Cam. "Wait where is Sweets? She knew he had headed this way but they hadn't passed him.

"Okay, one crisis at a time." Angela said. "Let's bring fruit loops here back to us." She said nodding to Brennan.

"Yes." Cam said. "Okay, Dr. Brennan, what you're feeling isn't real. I don't think. I mean I've had some strange things happen in the last few minutes myself." Cam laughed but her smile faded. "Wait, are any of you real? Oh God! Where's my jacket?" Cam reached her hands out and felt some comfort in the fact it was there, caked now in dust, but she now eyed Angela suspiciously.

"Okay Cam, I apologize in advance for this." Angela said as she slapped Cam across the face.

Cam's eyes blinked. "I felt that."

"Good." Angela said nodding. "I think. Please don't fire me."

Cam walked over to Brennan and was ready to slap her in the face when Brennan caught Cam's arm.

"I'm good." Brennan said collecting herself. "I'm sure that was the only rational thing to do."

Brennan was back. They were all sighing a relief when they heard a crash. The sound had travelled up the maid's stair case coming from the kitchen. The trio ran down to the kitchen and found every drawer open, one on the ground and a small assortment of old kitchen utensils on the ground.

They looked across the room to see Booth who was standing in the doorway, smudged with mud on his pants and sleeve.

"Booth!" Brennan said at first relieved then angry. "Why did you make such a mess!?"

"I didn't do it!" Booth said defensively. "I just walked in here!"

"Right, like a ghost did it." Brennan said giving him a sarcastic expression.

"Hey now." Cam said stepping over the mess. "Don't discount ghosts." She passed Booth and went into the hall as the others followed.

"Ghosts are not real, they are not logical." Brennan said bringing up the rear when a giggle from the pantry caught her attention pausing her.

"Bones?" Booth said in the doorway. "You coming?"

"Yeah!" Brennan said eager to catch up.

Standing in the entrance where their adventure had begun they no longer felt strange.

"I know this is going to sound weird but my hands aren't shaking anymore." Cam said.

"Maybe you warmed up with the jacket." Brennan suggested.

"I don't know it just feels like something else." Cam said.

"Yeah, and my headache went away." Angela added.

"Okay but where's Sweets and Hodgins?" Booth asked looking at Angela.

"How do I know? Probably playing with a bunch of bugs." She replied.

"Do you hear that?" Cam said as they listened carefully. They moved towards the study door where the tapping increased.

They cautiously opened the door and found Hodgins crouched in the center of the room twitching.

"Stop eating me!" He shouted.

"Oh boy." Booth said. Angela walked forward and tried to shake him but nothing happened. She went to raise her hand but Cam stepped forward, her eyes ablaze with excitement.

"I go this one!" Cam said happily sending a slap across Hodgins face. "Oh, I've wanted to do that for years. Payback for those experiments."

Hodgins eyes shot up at her as he pulled something imaginary off his cheek. "You killed it!"

"Angela!" Cam said standing up. "All yours now."

Soon the five of them stood in the hall now that Hodgins was returning back to reality.

"So what is going on here?" He asked now more lucid.

"I don't know what it is but it seems like when we were separated we just fell apart." Angela observed.

"Right, we work best as a team, we need to stick together." Booth said.

"Yeah but we're one team member short." Cam reminded them touching her jacket.

Booth's eyes locked on something at the top of the stairs.

"Hey Sweets." He said his eyes trained on the young psychologist standing at the top of the landings between the split between the wings. Booth tried to sound casual. "Whatcha doing with that knife?"


	6. Chapter 6

6.

_Wesley - oh no no no, no slap in the face for Sweets. The three stooges moment is over…_

* * *

><p><strong>Recap 5: Brennan faces her fear as she loses her ability to be rational and also discovers the body of a child in the dumb waiter. Booth gets out of the carriage house when he realizes his conversation with Brennan is an illusion. Angela finds a log in the now broken phonograph, rescues Cam from the ghost lady though her shoes are a goner. The duo brings Brennan back to reality when a noise in the kitchen sends them to the first floor where they find Booth who then finds Hodgins terrified of imaginary beetles. Now having recovered from their strange encounters and feelings more strength as a team they seek out their last team member who is currently toting a knife.<strong>

Sweets stood at the apex of the steps, knife from the kitchen in one hand, a lost look in his eyes. Hodgins quickly stopped grinning, he realized this wasn't a joke.

"Wanna come down here and talk to us Sweets?" Booth said, his voice carrying his message up the steps.

"Booth, are you actually luring someone who may not have snapped out of this whole experience to come down to us while he's toting a fairly large butcher's knife?" Angela asked growing pale as they huddled together, their back towards Sweets.

"I've got my gun." Booth said but failed to locate it, a suspicion growing that it was down a well at the moment.

"Your plan b is to shoot Sweets?" Cam asked.

"No!" Booth said then wondered, would he shoot Sweets if he came at them with a knife, like, maybe not to kill him but like a knee cap or something. "No, there's no need to shoot anyone." Then under his breath he added. "Not that I have a gun…."

"What was that?" Brennan asked.

"Just, let's have a little fun." Booth said with a grin that was supposed to be upbeat but came off as creepy and confused.

"Guys?" Hodgins said looking up from the huddle. "Where's Sweets?"

They looked at the top of the stairs but Sweets wasn't there anymore. They heard the front door click and lock shut, Sweets having completed the task.

"Hey there buddy." Angela said. "We'd uh, really like to go home, how about we all go home?"

"I am home." Sweets said in a low voice still staring at the shiny blade.

"Pretty sure this isn't your apartment Sweets, you're much cleaner than all this." Hodgins tried joking but now his eyes were on the knife and the slightly dishelmed Sweets whose tie was loosened and shirt was untucked.

"Gavin Gideon, he killed his whole family with a knife." Sweets said looking at it. "This was the only knife that was in the kitchen. Isn't that strange?"

"No, not strange." Booth said quickly. "How about I take a look at it." Booth walked forward but Sweets brought the blade up so quickly that Booth jumped back.

"He killed the family…." Sweets continued "…and then he killed himself."

"Why?" Cam asked, she felt the warmth of Sweets jacket around her. One person she could go to for answers was currently wielding a knife. The juxtaposition was unsettling to say the least.

"Why what? Why did he do it?" Sweets asked. When Cam nodded he shook his head that he didn't know.

"Sure you know. You're a profiler." Booth said hoping that Sweets wasn't as confused as he looked.

"You're right I do know." Sweets said smiling but it wasn't a genuine smile. "I only know though because I read his journal. I'm just a hack otherwise right? That's what you all think, a useless hack." Before they could answer he held his left hand open and looked at it and then the blade in his left hand. "Gavin knew, he knew all about what he was to his family, a useless extra, one to blame and one to loathe and he put them in their place."

Booth knew the likelihood of Sweets hacking them all to pieces while they were fully aware three feet from his was unlikely. He knew Sweets even knew that. But what he did fear was that Sweets, who was obviously not himself, could take out at least one of them.

"I told you Booth, I told you not to come in here." Sweets said breaking Booth from his thoughts.

"You did Sweets, you were right." Booth said standing in front of the group. If Sweets was going to lunge with the knife, no one was going to get hurt.

Sweets laughed a laugh that wasn't genuine. "Too bad you can't say I'm right when I'm not holding a knife." Sweets said with a look so cold and hard it left them all with a chill. This was a Sweets they had not often seen, a dark side that lived just under the surface.

Cam peered from behind Booth. "Sweets, I don't know what you're thinking but…"

"No one knows." Sweets said as he drug the tip of the knife across the open palm of his left hand. "No one asks do they?" Booth wanted to stop Sweets from cutting his hand but he wasn't sure what he would do. "You all take and take, but don't ask do you?" Sweets continued but dropped his hands to his side. The knife still in a stabbing grip in his right, a few drops of blood dripping from his right, his expression still hard but his eyes laced with a redness. "You know what though, I'm not Gavin Gideon." The group felt relieved for a moment. "I'm not that strong, I can only do half of what he did."

The group tried to figure out what he meant but he was quickly gone from sight as he ran up the stairs. Cam figured out the meaning first and in her bare feet was able to quickly chase him.

"What's going on?" Hodgins shouted after Cam who turned paused to turn and face them, she was going to need their house after all.

"Gavin Gideon murdered his whole family and then himself, Sweets can't kill us." Cam said and continued her pursuit.

"But he could kill…." Angela finished the thought.

"Oh shit." Booth said as his leather soles beat against the marble floor and took the steps two at a time.

The others followed suit and climbed the staircase, past the landing, past the wings and up the narrow center steps up towards the tower that looked down over the grounds.

Cam's heart pounded as Sweets vanished from sight. When she saw him turn she knew he was headed this way. Even in a delusional state she wasn't sure she could grab him in time if he jumped, a total waste of a life she hated to see since she knew he was not himself, none of them had been.

"Sweets!" She shouted but he didn't stop. The door to the tower slammed and bounced back open as Sweets neared the edge of the window opening. "Gavin!" She shouted again and this time he stopped.

"You're not him dammit." Cam said angry. Booth had caught up to them but Sweets was too close to the edge for either to get there in time. Four feet separated the fate that was to take place in the next precious moments.

"You're nothing like him Sweets." Cam said. "You're just confused, we all were, it goes away."

Sweets looked confused. Cam and Booth inched forward making Sweets jump and teeter near the edge. They stopped immediately and waited. Sweets looked around and down at the knife in his hand.

"We're your friends Sweets, we care." Booth said. Sweets looked at Booth.

"Yeah I know." He said matter of factly. "Why do I have a knife?" He added as they all sighed a relief.

"We'll tell you _all _about it." Booth said. "Just someplace else."

The group walked down the steps and out of the house as quickly as possible. The loaded up in the SUV and put as many miles between them and 1313 Hollow Lane as they could.

The car ride back was quiet and though they were back to "normal" they all still felt a bit shaken from the experience and didn't feel at ease. Halloween had fallen on a Friday this year and no one was in the mood to frighten people that night.

"Hey, I know the kids may want to go and get candy." Booth began to say to everyone who lingered after they arrived back at the Jeffersonian. "But I'd like to invite everyone over for a drink, maybe some dinner."

Heads nodded yes, they needed to unwind but no one was quite ready to be left alone just yet. Mostly there was a lingering in the air that something still needed to be said.

* * *

><p>An hour later the trick or treaters were running wild. Max and Angela were taking the kids to a few houses around the neighborhood for treats while Hodgins ran for more wine, whatever they had couldn't be nearly enough, and Brennan and Booth made a hearty dinner.<p>

The guests soon filed in now all wearing casual clothes instead of their usual work suits. The little ones soon engaged in their own social gathering before the TV where Bugs Bunny battled Witch Hazel to not be dinner as the tots swapped treats.

The conversation had been light and full of compliments on the meal.

"So we're going to talk about today at some point right?" Angela blurted out. They all cringed and yet felt relief when she brought it up.

"No she's right, that was some strange stuff." Cam said. "I don't know if I truly believed in ghosts or not but after today, when she chased me to that door…."

"What? Who?" Hodgins asked anxious to hear about what had happened.

"I guess no one knew what was going on when we got separated." Brennan observed.

"We should have stuck together." Booth said in hind sight. "We are the strongest when we are a team."

Heads nodded in agreement.

"Okay, well I'll go first." Angela said recounting her experience followed by Hodgins, Cam, Brennan, Booth who was short on a full description. Sweets had been quiet and based on how his day ended and the palmed bandage on his hand he mostly kept in his lap at the table, no one pushed him for an explanation until he was ready for it. It seemed a little darker than the others in some way.

"So how did the windows disappear from the house?" Angela asked of Booth's story.

"Well obviously they didn't so it was an illusion of some sort." Booth guessed.

"Were they all just illusions?" Hodgins asked.

"I know I saw the remains of that little girl." Brennan insisted. Angela and Cam agreed they saw it too.

"Wait, what little girl would that be?" Hodgins asked.

"Yeah, if there are remains we need to go back and process them." Cam said realizing they had failed to do their jobs, they wanted out of there so badly.

"Well all the bodies were accounted for." Booth said.

"No, the little girl, Avery of the Gideon family. Remember she went missing." Brennan said jumping up to get the files. Food and empty plates were quickly pushed away while manila folders took their place.

"That's right she went missing." Angela said looking over the file. "She must have got trapped in there and they never found her!"

"How did you find her?" Cam asked Brennan.

"Lucky guess." She said her eyes not meeting Cam's.

"The well." Booth said rubbing his eyes. He explained the snakes when he left the carriage house, how he tripped and lost his gun down the well. "I was tall enough to fit across the opening, the little boy Emery, if he was chased by snakes, the would have gone right down there."

"So both of their deaths could have been accidents." Hodgins said.

"Technically Genevieve White was an accident as well." Cam said with a shiver. "Though she still seems to blame footwear."

"So no one was actually killed until Gavin killed the family. They looked at Sweets who had been mostly quiet so far from the corner of their eyes.

Sweets cleared his throat, joining in for the first time. "In Gavin's journal he talked about how the family was getting new high tech technology of a central duct work system. That entry was near the time that his entries became very aggravated. Soon after the rest of them were murdered."

"What are you suggesting Sweets?" Booth asked.

"Angela, did you saw something about getting a headache in the library?" Sweets asked.

"Yeah it was while I was looking at the fireplace. Here I have pictures of it, you should see it." Angela said pulling out her phone.

"Wait, is that rosewood?" Hodgins said looking at the photo.

"Yeah so?" Cam asked.

"There are some types of rosewood that are highly toxic. If this wood was layered with a high carbonate polyurethane coating which at the time contained lead, which it most likely did, then when a fire was burning in the fire place, it would release a toxin in the air." Hodgins explained.

"And when the family put in the forced air system it allowed air from the furnace in the basement to circulate air thru the house, the return air ducts would have pulled air in, including that from the library. That sent the toxic fumes thru the entire house." Cam observed.

"Most likely causing each inhabitant to unknowingly breathe in the fumes that would lead them – **and us **to hallucinate." Brennan said understanding.

"So the first murders were accidental." Angela said. "But why was Gavin the one to do to the deed?"

"In Gavin's journal he mentioned the fact that he was studying a great deal." Sweets gleamed. "He most likely went to the library where it was quiet, thus inhaling the fumes directly, getting a higher dose."

"And the fumes seemed to cause everyone's deepest fears to manifest and become heightened." Hodgins mused.

"Somehow we each connected to one of those who died there." Cam said. "I have no idea though what was real and what wasn't while I was in that room."

"Well we know now what happened to Emery and Avery, the rest of the Gideon family." Hodgins said. "What about the prohibition guy, McLaughlin?"

"I think I have an idea there." Angela said getting up and getting the log she found. "I found two things in the library, one of them was a log. McLaughlin was skimming off the top, with the mob."

"So it was the mob that killed him." Booth said surprised.

"Based on what I was seeing in here, yeah, I wouldn't doubt it. When I saw he was skimming off the top, it was a pretty thick skim." She explained.

"Okay what about Marilyn and Geoff?" Cam asked of the 1950's couple.

"I think I can shed light on that too." Angela said bringing up the image of the paper from the fire place. "I could see it had writing but it disintegrated when I took it out of the cool air that was preserving it in the fireplace under the flu. I couldn't help myself and I ran it thru the Angelatron when we got back, before we came over. Apparently, Geoff was having an affair and Marilyn found out about it."

"I thought you said that she couldn't turn on the saw." Booth said recalling the details from the file folders before them.

"She didn't." Brennan said. "She was locked in the closet in the servant's quarters when it happened! She was trying to claw her way out!"

"I think that her husband's lover killed him." Angela said.

"How did another woman get the big machine on?" Cam asked confused.

"Because from the letter it wasn't a woman." Angela explained.

"Oh." They collectively said.

"Marilyn got out and found him, or got there just as it happened, was covered in blood, left to be insane." Booth mused.

"And it worked because she sure as heck seemed to be traumatized." Hodgins said looking in the file.

"So last one, Paul Kulaga." Cam said.

"Oh, I think I've got this one." Hodgins explained. "So I was looking in the room where you found me. Apparently when Paul and his friends lived there they often used that room to get high. Now Pauls' friends because of their hippy nature, had no concept of time since they had no jobs and were squatters. I think what happened was that Paul got high one day by himself, his friends go off to a concert of something and Paul dies, probably the wrong combination of shrooms and the toxin still circulating thru the house. His body sits there a few days and behind that painting is a hallow and warm space, a perfect environment for the Dermestidae Beetle. While his friends are away, the bugs will play."

"So the bugs eat his flesh?" Angela asked with her nose turned up in disgust.

"Leaving his friends to come back to an eerie pile of bones." Cam said understanding.

"The crews that worked there were probably just freaked out by the deaths that went unsolved." Booth said.

"That all sounds very rational to me." Brennan said relaxing.

"The dangers of not fully investigating a case." Cam said sipping more wine. "If someone had only found that toxin in the air sooner, so many lives would have been saved."

"Well we will have to go back tomorrow, find the rest of the evidence." Brennan said. As if on cue Booth's phone ran and he jumped to answer it. Cam turned to Sweets who smiled at her when she smiled at him but overall he had been mostly quiet at dinner. Before she could say anything Booth returned.

"Well we're not going anywhere tomorrow." Booth said sitting back down.

"We're off the case?" Brennan asked setting her wine glass down.

"No, the house is gone. Mysterious fire, all gone." Booth explained.

The group was stunned.

"Maybe it's good riddance." Hodgins said and few could argue.

"Well it's late." Angela said. "Though I feel better that we figured it out. I think I can sleep now."

A quick clean up later and they headed to the door, the trick or treaters finally slowing down on the street outside.

Cam stopped Sweets. "I should give this back to you." Cam said handing over Sweets jacket she began to pull it back after she looked at it. "I should have it cleaned first." It had gotten dusty.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Sweets said gently taking the coat from her. Cam was still a little worried about Sweets quiet nature and the bandaged hand he retrieved the coat with. The worry was party because she could tell he did it himself and hoped it knew what he was doing and the other part because he had been so quiet since it all happened.

Booth came up behind Cam and put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile. She knew Booth had a plan.

* * *

><p>The next day Sweet yawned as they headed to the door in a sweatshirt and flannel pajamas as the banging ensued. He was still yawning when he opened the door and found Booth standing on the other side.<p>

"Want to go back to the house?" Booth asked.

"No!" Sweets said and began to shut the door but Booth stepped in first. Sweets rolled his eyes and headed to his kitchen.

"No." He said again.

"I want to see something, Bones won't go, so that leaves you." Booth said following him.

"No, it leaves a number of insane people you can go and ask." Sweets said locating the coffee grounds.

"You want to know as much as I do." Booth said as they paused. "You know what I mean."

Sweets eyes met Booth's and he couldn't deny the query.

"I'll make the coffee. I know it's Saturday but I'm not going to be seen with you in flannel." Booth said as Sweets sauntered off to find some jeans.

* * *

><p>Booth and Sweets looked at the remains of the house, hollowed out mostly by the fire the stone walls stood like a skeleton, ghostly remains.<p>

"Well it's daytime. Don't have to worry about vampires." Sweets joked as they walked to the gate.

"Oh I don't know about that. You never know when you might meet one." Booth said.

Sweets looked at the remains of the house.

"Would you have jumped?" Booth asked. He had to know.

"I think the fresh air brought me out of it." Sweets said of the events yesterday.

Booth wanted to ask another question as he looked at the gauze around Sweets hand. Sweets caught his gaze but they both avoided it and looked back at the burned structure.

"I knew you wouldn't hurt any of us." Booth said. "You're not Gavin, toxic gas or no toxic gas." Booth wanted to add that he was worried Sweets would have hurt himself, toxic gas or no toxic gas.

Sweets knew what he was getting at and he couldn't deny the accusation/worry. "Yeah, well we all made it to another day."

"We all have fears Sweets." Booth reminded him. "But because they're fears, it doesn't mean they are real."

Sweets nodded and Booth hoped that the acceptance was genuine. Booth looked down and jumped at first sight of the snake.

"It's just a metal statue." Sweets said looking at the cast iron serpent. "Probably fell off when the fire was raging." He smiled. "Want to have a session on fears?" He threw back at Booth.

"Not today, today is all Saints day kid." Booth reminded him as they walked back to the car.

Booth started the car and Sweets grinned.

"Glad we solved the case kid?" Booth asked.

"I don't think we solved it Booth."

"What makes you say that?" Booth was almost irritated at the accusation.

"Who put the skull and bones on the front gate?"

The End.

* * *

><p><em>My uncle rebuilt an old car on had a guy build him a customized dash for it out of rosewood. I don't recall all the specifics but the combination of the rosewood and the lacquer used to seal it caused a bad reaction for the guy. He was fine but he vowed to never make another again, making it one of a kind and somewhat dangerous to work on. That gave me the idea for the mantle. The story where the fiancée died seeing the new house was also based off a true story from the house across the one I grew up in as a kid in a historic neighborhood. The vampire reference is of course a joke reference to Angel, which in the explosion" story with Booth floating down referring to himself as "no Angel" was a joke too.<em>

_This must be a record (for me) in length of chapters and time to finish!_

_Up next? Maybe time for another Sweet Centric piece, what shall I do to the poor man now? Tune in..._


	7. Chapter 7

_If you haven't been following along completely (shame on you! :) ) here are some other sweet stories by….me! So out of curiosity, if you've read them all, what's your favorite?_

The Mist in the Box (my first one!) - Sweets is inflicted by a mysterious poison

The Title in the Story - Sweets takes Brennan's place when a killer makes Booth choose, he ends up being cut up some.

The Sequel to the Story - Sequel to the above when Sweets is still haunted by the feeling that Booth would not have chosen him. We meet Emma, Sweets new secretary with a complicated past and a serial killer from the grave - Pelant.

The Question to the Answer - Sweets & Emma date, return of the past for Sweets with torture.

The Car in the Lake - Sweets seems to be sick but won't tell anyone.

The Explosive in the Situation - Sweets involved in an explosion.

The Psychologist in the Institution - Sweets gets maliciously admitted to an asylum and endures electro-shock therapy.

The Chill in the Air - Tracking down a killer, Sweets is trapped in an icy cabin and gets hypothermia

The Murder in the Family - strange multi decade case

The Bank in the Heist & The Clue in the Profiler - the first one little story about a bank heist & Sweets gets shot. Followed up by a far darker story in which Sweets is kidnapped and profiles the killer's murders live.

The Choice of a Family - Sweets attempts to help a young but instead gets beat up by the gang and then develops a drug addiction.

The Tierney in the Image - It appears Booth has tried to kill Sweets in order to keep him safe.

The Heat in the Mercury - Sweets is trapped and about to melt down.

**What's your favorite? Should there be more? What should happen to Sweets next? ;)**


End file.
